Sometimes it is necessary to deploy a sensor cable array on the ocean floor, for any one of a number of reasons. In the past, sensor arrays have been primarily deployed by laying the array on the surface of the sea floor. This has usually been accomplished by paying the sensor cable array off the stern of a surface ship.
Surface deployments (deploying the cable on the ocean floor surface) are simpler to execute than buried deployments, but these deployments leave the sensors and connection cables extremely susceptible to damage from marine life. The cable array can also be vulnerable to fishing operations such as trawling, and boating operations where the vessel equipment is passed across the ocean floor. It may be advantageous to bury the array to minimize these risks. When underwater cables are buried, the operation typically requires the use of a large plow pulled by a surface craft. This type of operation is effective, but not covert. In some cases it may be desirable to covertly and autonomously bury a sensor array.
Underwater plows exist and are mostly used for oil, gas, and telecommunications businesses. However, such underwater plows do not have the ability to overcome obstacles on the ocean floor which may be encountered when the plow, or other object, is being deployed.